Daily Times

Prosecutors demanded a 14-year sentence Monday for a Pakistani Muslim leader accused of inciting the murder of anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, the leader of the party that won last year’s general election in the Netherlands. Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalali did not appear for trial at a closely guarded courtroom near Amsterdam as prosecutors accused him of abusing his position as a religious leader to call on followers to hang or behead Wilders. A second Pakistani man was scheduled to stand trial in the afternoon on similar charges. He also was not expected to attend the case. Neither of the men is believed to be in the country, and Pakistan has no extradition agreement with the Netherlands. They are the latest Dutch trials for Muslims who have threatened Wilders’ life, forcing him to live under around-the-clock police protection for nearly 20 years because of his outspoken criticism of Islam. Last year, a former Pakistani cricketer, Khalid Latif, was sentenced to 12 years in prison over allegations that he had offered a reward for the death of Wilders.